2 stars!
I can honestly say that this book was not for me. From the blurb, I thought it could be cute and reminded me a bit of The Cheat Sheet. I failed to understand the ages of the main characters because this type of plotline for characters in their 30s (I think??) is a bit crazy. I feel like the "makeover to win someone back" plot is better suited for characters in their teens or 20s. That aside, the way that no one liked Victoria, yet they made up and executed this crazy plan for Eli to completely change himself in order to get back with her was very ???? I know these are his friends and family but tough love is allowed. Eli and Victoria only dated for 4 months before she had to leave the country for work. Despite the short time frame and circumstances, he thought would be the perfect time to propose. She rejected him, and instead of accepting it, he decided to completely change himself? Wild. I didn't like any of the characters except for Leah which is the sole reason for the 2 stars. I feel like the majority of the book was him trying to get back with Victoria, and only like a quarter of the book (or less) was about Leah and Eli. She deserved better, either way. I also wasn't a fan of the pacing of the book or the way the different plotlines were integrated.

The Rom-Com Agenda is a small town, slow burn romance about Leah and Eli.

Leah grew up in the Foster system and never found a place to call home. At the age of 18 she left her last home, to come back later to take care of her foster mother, Cathy. Leah is working many jobs in order to make enough money to leave town.

Eli is in love with his ex girlfriend who has left to go work aboard for 10 months. Before leaving they broke up but Eli is willing to win her back.

Eli’s friends and family, although not big fans of his ex, help him by giving Eli a (drum roll please)… makeover!

This is when Leah and Eli meet. Leah is brought in by his friends and family to help with the makeover. They have created a list of Rom-Com movies for Eli to watch and study (giving the book its name)… Eli is unwilling to watch all the movies and so Leah helps him by watching with him. And the story continues…

The characters were lovable and funny. The town was a little peace of paradise even in the winter and made me want to explore similar small towns. For a book that is called the Rom-Com Agenda I would have liked to have more references to classic rom-coms. Yes they were important for the story line but not the main focus.

This books does contain death of a family member, cancer and a little about abandonment.

Thank you to NetGalley for this book in exchange for my honest review!

This was a really cute story - it definitely reminded me of the classic Rom-com movies from the 90s. Anyone who likes romance movies should adore this book I would definitely reread this book!

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Closed door romances are not my thing but I liked this one well enough. I enjoy friends to lovers and a good slow burn. That said Eli was so hung up on is ex and the waffling between him and Leah didnt do it for me.

I literally could not put this book down. I wish I had picked it up a year ago instead of letting it sit there on my TBR! I definitely can't wait to read more of Denker in the future, and I won't wait as long as I did this time!

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

A fun book, you will enjoy.

This was a slow burn, closed door, friends to lovers romance. The characters were witty and there was some great banter which was nice.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in return for an honest review (apologies for being a year late in getting it read).

Remember old school rom-coms? And by old school I mean: Say Anything, Sixteen Candles, Dirty Dancing. Toss in Love Actually and this is basically our story.

* Girl meets a guy and falls for him. He is charismatic, TALL, sweet, thoughtful ... and in love with someone else.
* There is a makeover. Of course there is a makeover.
* There is a gaggle of friends and family that just have to butt into everything.
* Hero needs to realize that the girl who has become his best friend - is really THE ONE and act on it.
* Girl has suffered a trauma (well several) and acts like everything is fine, until she can finally depend on new friends, and the guy to support her.
* Asshole comes and tries to bring her down (in this case her former foster brother) and the gang is there to tell him to get lost.


Told in alternating POVs (Leah and Eli) this was cute but something about it missed the mark. I think maybe it went a tad too long - the beauty of old school rom-coms is that they were rarely longer than 75-90 minutes. This book went about 75 pages too long. At the 70% mark I wondered what was going to fill the last 30% of the book. And honestly - we could have cut out more of the beginning, or even the entire getting Victoria back storyline - and still had a cute little story.

The good: Both Eli and Leah were great characters. This book is obviously the start of a little series about the rest of the friends (Gillian is next in "Hedging Your Bets", and I can't imagine not getting Gray and Delia's story)

The bad: Since I know more books are coming about "Willow Cove" I think maybe the"world building" of the whole group just took up too much bandwidth and stalled the story a little. Eli's sister Jenna is a tad annoying (like over the top - but I guess we need one of those characters if we are re-creating old school rom-coms).

That said. I was able to read this pretty quickly and loved how Leah was able to explain Love Actually to Eli in a way that totally addressed the issues we all have with it today - while still admitting to loving it.

My one question was... why no Jerry Maguire? When Leah tells Eli about the "grand gesture" - that should have been a reference point! At least based on the movies being referred to throughout the book. (I also found it a little strange that they would pick those movies when they likely would have watched movies from the late 90s and ealy 2000s based on their age... but that's just me).

3.5 Stars.

A closed door romance, filled with witty characters, slow burn, and a friends to lovers. I wanted to love this one but overall the characters and some of the choices they made were very hard to sit with,

This book was just ok. I really couldn't get past Eli's obsession with his ex - I felt like it took so much away from the actual story when clearly Leah was a better match for him. The jokes/banter/vibes of the book had me laughing. The pacing seemed off, and felt like we were missing some details. Thanks for the ARC.

If you are looking for a cute rom-com read, then you need to pick this book up. It has all of the elements of a rom-com: fake dating, winning an ex over, learning yourself, falling with someone unexpected, and more. Can't spoil all of the book. But it's definitely a cute rom-com read. It will make you all swoony.

Had high hopes but wasn't really into the book. The storyline seemed to drag and then rush too much at the end. Would have much rather had it be shorter..

super cute romance that was pretty average to me, nothing too crazy or groundbreaking. the characters and plot was cutesy but i can’t see myself going out to buy myself a copy or reread it

This book was super cute, but was lacking a little on the execution for me. I really liked Leah, I thought she was super sweet. I wish that there was a little more emphasis put on Eli bettering himself versus just trying to win back his ex. It would have made our main characters ending up together feel a little more justified.

Rating : 3.75 out of 5
Blurbs :
STEP 1: Find yourself
Leah Keegan is used to being alone, especially after taking care of her sick foster mother for the past year. But now there’s nothing keeping her in the sweet town of Willow Cove. It’s time to move on. Again.

STEP 2: Win back the one who got away
Eli Masterson thought he and Victoria were meant to be together until she decided to jet off to Rome for a year. Eli is determined to win her back. But how?

STEP 3: Become a romantic hero
Changing Eli’s physical appearance is easy, but to turn Eli into the sophisticated-yet-vulnerable ideal man, his girl pals force him to watch classic rom-coms. And take notes.

STEP 4: Fall in love?
Inadvertently drawn into the makeover scheme, Leah ends up being Eli’s guide through the wild world of meet-cutes and grand gestures. Even though she believes Eli doesn’t need to change a thing about himself. Even though she just might be falling for Eli . . . and Eli falling for her.

Thoughts :
It's fine I guess. It's full of fluff and I love Eli. Sadly, it kinda felt flat to me. I still love the reading experience tho. Thank you Netgalley for the advance copy!

did not enjoy the way this book was executed. it could have been done better it had a cute plot it was just not the best. thank you to netgalley for the e arc :)))

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I read this book and was left with a cute story but not a lot of interest in re-reading it. Eli was not an MMC that I connected with strongly, and while the book was easy to read and mostly straightforward in concept and delivery, I don't really remember much about it a few days after reading.

2.5 stars.

Eli and Leah are such a cute couple. I really enjoyed this book. It was fun with all the movie references and how eager Eli was to impress his ex-girlfriend. But through that, he ended up falling in love with someone who appreciated him for him and encouraged him to do the things she knew he enjoyed and excelled at. She was brought into the fold of his family and friends, and Leah got the family she had always wanted. I feel like this book could have used an epilogue, and I really hope she writes a book that is the love story of Gray and Delia because it looks like another Willow Cove book is coming out with Gillian as the main character. I will probably read it, but I would be more excited to read a book about Delia and Gray.
I received this book via NetGalley as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Definitely rooting for these two main characters right out of the gate. A great book that kept me interested from start to finish. There were enough twists and turns, and surprises. But overall a cute book, and one I would highly recommend. Also a quick read as the plot keeps you interested.

The minute I saw the title I new I needed this book in my life. As a lover of rom-coms I had high hopes for this book and I think it made a good attempt. The story was good but lagged in multiple places, nothing a few quick edits (or skimming) could change. Overall the story is lovely.

3/5 stars!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.